Star Bright
by Chaotic Dreamer
Summary: Basically, the xmen get a very eccentric new recruit. This is her story. This is my first fic, so please R&R. Chapter thirteen is up out of the house and into the Dobermans.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One: To Hallucinate, or not to hallucinate  
  
Jet: Nice title  
  
Me: Thanks! This is my first fan fiction, so please review. Oh, and for those of you who don't know, Jet is my muse. She's a mutant rabbit who can talk, breathes fire, and has retractable dragon wings. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Please R&R!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own X-men Evolution. Just my OC. I don't own the Wasatch mountains either, but I think that's obvious. (They're in Utah.)  
  
**************** STARS! *************************************  
  
JENNIFER'S P.O.V.  
  
The whirr of bicycle gears filled the air with an odd rythm. I hummed a song to myself as I sped across the empty road. When you're scared of heights, and don't have wings, a bike is the next best thing to flying.  
  
A cool wind pushed me on, under a silver crescent moon pering from behind the Wasatch mountains in the east, making eerie shillouettes.  
  
Did I mention that it was 3 in the morning? And a Saturday?  
  
Most of my friends find it odd and annoying that I'm a morning person. But then, who wouldn't hate mornings if they slept in so late?  
  
Anyway, every morning for a month now I'd been riding my bike in the early morning. Of course, I had to be back by four or else Mom would think I'd been captured by morning person gangsters or something and call the police. But nothing ever happens in my neighborhood. Even at night/morning.  
  
Or that is, until this morning. I stopped at a stop sign, even though there weren't any cars near, and took a moment to look at the sky. I could see a few stars, but not very many. Even in the suburbs only ten or so stars are visible on a clear night. Thank heavens I don't live in a city. I've always like starlight. It's so... reassuring. They don't change. People change, lands change, but the stars go on forever, dancing a slow dance year after year, giving grace to the heavens and hope to the earth. "Star light, star bright, first star I wish tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight." I whispered absentmindedly. I didn't really have a wish, it just felt right. It wasn't really night time anyway.   
  
I swatted at a moth that was hanging around me for some reason. That's when things began to get a little strange. The moth seemed to be attracted to my hand, just like when a moth is attracted to a lamp. I looked at my palm. And it was... glowing.  
  
As I stared, the glow formed a ball floating an inch above my hand. I reached out to touch it, and it suddenly flew out of my hand faster then a bird could, making a hole in the stop sign before it left my sight.  
  
I blinked, then shook my head. Maybe I was just seeing things. Mom said weird stuff happens when your eyes are tired, and she's a doctor so she would know. Maybe I just needed to go back to bed.  
  
With that thought, I pedaled back home.  
  
* * *  
  
A few minutes later, I sat cross-legged on my bed, staring at several glowing white orbs, which were levitating around my room. I hadn't tried to touch them again, in case I broke something else. It obviously wasn't just my eyes playing tricks on me. The light balls were warming the air around them. One clump of balls near my door was so hot I was afraid the door would catch fire if I didn't do something. Of course, there's not much I could do at the time, except hoping that Mom and Dad would see this as a way to save money on christmas decorations rather then getting mad about having to replace the stop sign.  
  
"What on earth is going on?" I muttered to myself, as another ball of light floated up from my palm.   
  
A few hours later, I was asleep. Don't get me wrong; I was terrified. But something about lying in a warm bed can make you really sleepy, and when you're asleep you don't have to worry about anything. But I was woken up by the doorbell. My bedroom is in the basement, so I had to run to see who it was. When I got upstairs, Dad (who's the only one besides me that would be up by 8:00 AM, had opened the door. Behind it was some bald guy or other in a wheelchair, a tall red-haired girl, and a gruff looking man in a leather  
  
jacket.  
  
******************************************************************  
  
Me: It's a cliffie!  
  
Jet: Well, you certainly didn't make it at all obvious what happens next. *sarcastically if you couldn't already tell*  
  
Me: Really? Cool! I was afraid it would be.  
  
Jet: *blinks*  
  
Me: Please review! I'll write more soon! Also, this is meant to be funny. Somewhat. So please tell me if you have any ideas on how to accomplish that. 


	2. Sheding light on the subject

Chapter Two: Shedding Some Light on the Situation  
  
Jet: That's the worst pun I've ever heard.  
  
Me: Worse then my little brother's?  
  
Jet: Then again, maybe it isn't the worst. But it's still really bad.  
  
SHOUT-OUT Thingys!  
  
Elf: I'm glad you're enjoying it.  
  
Mithrowden: Thanks! I do like to write poetry, so I guess that's how it happened.  
  
Agent-G: You might be surprised as to what the reactions are. Glad you're enjoying this.  
  
Kurtforever: That's a great idea! In fact, that pairing idea gave me lots of inspiration. (But Jen and Roberto won't get together for a while.) Thanks!  
  
Supergirlhv: Well, I guess it won't be too boring then, if only for the powers.  
  
Dark Jaded Rose: Thanks! I'm glad you like this OC story so far.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution! I just own this story. I could try to buy it, but I have a feeling that eleven dollars and 73 cents, (and two smashed pennies!) will go very far.  
  
"Hello Mr. Morris." The bald man in the wheelchair said. "I need to talk to you about your daughter. If you would be so kind as to let me in?"With a mystified expression, he nodded. The three people stepped/wheeled inside. I got off the staircase, and joined everyone in the living room.  
  
"What has Jennifer done?" Dad asked, with raised eyebrows. "Did she knock down your mailbox too?" I gave a guilty gulp. I'm pretty good on at biking, but I'm clumsy, and if I start day dreaming I get clumsier. Though I've gotten really good at rebuilding mailboxes and re-planting trees. The tall, rough looking dude (who hadn't sat down yet) looked at me with a doubting expression.  
  
"No. Let me explain. My name is Charles Xavier. This is Jean," the bald man indicated the redhed, "and Proffessor Logan. We come from 'Xavier's School for the gifted.' And, I have some interesting news. Your daughter is a mutant."  
  
Dad just sat speechless. I wondered if he believed it. However, considering that my room is filled with glowing balls that accelerate and break stuff if I touch them, this wasn't too unbelievable.  
  
"Okay. I can accept that. So, what on earth does that mean, why are you telling me, and does being a mutant have anything to do with balls of light that come out of my hand?" As if to punctuate my words, yet another ball of light floated from my hand to the cieling.  
  
Dad fainted. He's never done that before.  
  
"Oops."  
  
Professor Logan sighed, then picked up my dad and layed him out on the sofa as if he was a little kid. I blinked.  
  
"Maybe you should get the rest of your family. Once your father wakes up, I'll explain everything."  
  
A few minutes later, my family sat down in the room. Dad was shaky, but okay. Jacob, my little brother, was trying to imitate Logan. (I decided the Professor part didn't fit him at all.)  
  
"Jennifer is a mutant." Professor Xavier began again. "This means that she has certain gifts most humans do not have. Apparently it has something to do with these balls of light. I am a telepath, so I was able to locate her. Xavier's school for the gifted is a school for mutants where she will learn to control her powers. If you wish to let her go, it is in Bayville, New York."  
  
Jean, the redhead girl, smiled at me. "You should like it a lot. There's lots of other students to make friends with."  
  
After that came a really long boring discussion that I'm not going to relate. My dad thought I should go, especially after he heard about the 'stop sign incident.' Mom didn't want me to go. Jacob kept trying to get me to make more light balls, and Sabrina (my sister) just sat there and blinked. Logan scowled. Jean sat very still, and smiled. Professor Xavier talked. And I pretended to listen, trying to figure out how I was going to get the light balls down.   
  
"Jean, would you please help Jennifer fix her room?" Proffessor Xavier asked. Apparently he really was a telepath. So, I led Jean down stairs to my room.  
  
"What's wrong with your room?" She asked as we approached the door. In stead of answering, I opened the door.  
  
Jet: You're stopping?  
  
Me: Well, I know it's another cliff-hanger. But the room cleaning is a big event, and deserves it's own chapter. I'll just post the next chapter really soon.  
  
Jet: How long is it going to take before this girl actually gets to the institute?  
  
Me: Um, she'll get there in chapter four.   
  
Jet: It usually doesn't take that long. Me: I'm unusual!  
  
Jet: (muttering) Obviously...  
  
Me: Anyway, please review! I promise to post chapter three very soon! 


	3. Lights!

Chapter Three: Lights! No Cameras! Action!  
  
Me: Told you I'd post again soon!  
  
Jet: You have way too much time on your hands if you're posting again already.  
  
Me: I know I do. Oh, I think I'd better clarify something: I am not really a Jean fan. She doesn't annoy me as much as she annoys some people, but I don't like her that much. I only introduce her first because I figured she goes off to recruit people a lot. (No offense to Jean fans, but she is annoying.)  
  
SHOUT OUT THINGY MABOBERS!  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned X-men... Then Marvel wouldn't. And Marvel does. Therefore, I don't.  
  
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Jean stared into the open room. It was filled almost to bursting with clouds of white balls, floating around aimlessly.  
  
"Don't!" I said, as she reached out to touch one.   
  
"Why not?" Jean asked. In reply, I motioned for her to get out of the way. Then, I walked across the hallway, opened the door to my sister's room, opened her window, and came back. I reached up, and touched a ball.  
  
Shroom! It raced through the hall, and out through my sister's bedroom window, to form a hole in the dirt around the window well. (Like I said before, my room is in the basement.)  
  
"Oh." Jean said. "Well, maybe we can get rid of all of them that way.  
  
I shrugged. "Why not?" Jean touched another one.  
  
"OW!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's hot! And it didn't move!"  
  
"That's odd." I said, looking at a small burn on the older girl's hand. "I noticed they were a little warm."  
  
"I guess it's because you made them." Jean said. So, for a while, she sat there, and I made balls fly out the window.   
  
"Hey, let me try something." Jean said thoughtfully. She closed her eyes, and touched one of her temples.  
  
Shroom! Shroom! Shroom! Three of the light balls seemed to launch themselves out the window.  
  
"What's your power anyway?" I asked, looking at the holes in my sister's window-well that were beginning to take the shape of a many-petaled flower.  
  
"Telekinesis. And mild telepathy."  
  
And so, to a chorus of Shrooms, we began to empty out the glowing bedroom. I was actually having fun. After a while, I began to figure out how to aim, so all my light balls were going into the same hole. Finally, the room was empty. Well, except for the usual piles of clothes that cover my floor. But at least Jean could take off my sunglasses.  
  
We walked upstairs. Apparently the debate was over, because Mom was crying, and Jacob and Sabrina were arguing about who would get my room while I was gone.  
  
"You need to pack." Dad said, with a small sigh that proved he'd actually miss me. "You're going to New York."  
  
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Jet: Finally!  
  
Me: I thought it was kinda funny.  
  
Jet: You find everything funny.   
  
Me: Well, funny or not, please review! 


	4. Departures

Chapter Four: Departures  
  
Jet: It's about time!  
  
Me: Impatient?   
  
Jet: Of course I am. As a muse, it is my duty to point out your every flaw.  
  
Me: I thought you were supposed to inspire me!  
  
Jet: Think again.  
  
Me: I need to clarify something else: This story takes place right after 'The Beast of Bayville. So no one knows about mutants yet, and no one knows about the Acolytes yet. (Don't worry. I'm a Pyro fan, and a Remy fan, and a Romy fan, so they'll still show up. Just in a different way then in the TV show.) We don't even know that Kurt and Rouge are siblings yet. (Though they still will be.) Why? Simply because I like season two best. Anyway, on with the story!  
  
SHOUT OUT THINGYS!  
  
Agent-G: Oops. I was meaning to explain that last chapter, but I forgot. Oh well, I can fit it into this one.  
  
Elf: Thanks!   
  
Disclaimer: If I owned X-men... then I'd be rich.Unfortunately, I'm not. Oh, I don't own the Salt Lake City airport either. (And it does rain there all the time!)  
  
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A few days later, I was standing in the Salt Lake City airport, saying good bye to my parents. I'd gotten to stay home for a few more days because I had to unregister at my school and all that.   
  
My family was there too, all crowded around me. Mom was crying. Jacob... was being Jacob. Sabrina was telling me that I should convince Jacob to let her have my room. (I never realized my room was so desired!) Dad was giving me a lecture about being on my best behavior. I smiled, then tried to scratch my hands through the fabric of the gloves I was wearing. Apparently wearing gloves kept the light balls from forming, so I wouldn't have to worry about them all the time.  
  
Finally, I saw a plane in the window, landing in the silvery rain and pulling forward to the thingy you walk through to board. (It's always raining when I'm at the airport. Seriously, every time I go on a plane, or pick up someone who was just on a plane, it's raining.) I gave a small gulp. I'd never been on an airplane alone before. That's when it really sunk in. I was going somewhere I'd never been before, where I didn't know anyone, and I'd be alone the whole way.   
  
I hugged my family good bye, picked up my backpack, and boarded the plane.  
  
***  
  
Scott, Kurt, and Kitty stood at the Bayville airport. Scott was holding up a sign that said JENNIFER MORRIS in bold letters.  
  
"Vere is she?" Kurt asked, looking around.   
  
"Like, maybe her flight got delayed." Kitty said. Just then, a tall girl showed up on top of a nearby escalator. She had long, light brown hair, an infinite number of freckles, pale blue eyes, and a blue and white tie-dye shirt. The girl looked around for a second with a lost expression, then looked down, saw the sign, and smiled. She got onto an escalator, realized it was going up, and got onto the other escalator.  
  
"Hi!" The girl, obviously Jennifer, said as she reached them.  
  
"Like, welcome to Bayville!" Kitty said.  
  
***  
  
My welcoming committee consisted of three people: Kurt Wagner, Kitty Pryde, and Scott Summers. They seemed pretty nice. I went over to that spinning thing that the suitcases are on, and found mine. (Not very difficult, as mine was the only black one with rainbow colored stars painted all over it.) Then I dragged it out towards Scott's red convertible.  
  
"So, vat is your power?" Kurt asked. He had a German accent.  
  
"I'm not sure, but it has something to do with floating balls of white light."  
  
Bamph! "I'm a teleporter." He said. Only he was sitting in a different part of the car now.  
  
"Cool!"  
  
After a while, during which I found out that Kitty could walk through walls, and Scott's eyes shoot laser thingys, (He seemed a little annoyed when I asked him if it hurt his eyes.) we arrived at 'the institute.' It was big. I mean, that building was a mansion! I'm not exaggerating. There were even balconies! How did a teacher make this much money? Unfortunately, I've never found out.   
  
When I got inside the building, Jean and an African American woman with long white hair were standing on a huge stair case.   
  
"My name is Ororo." The woman said. "I'll show you where your room is." Jean raised her hand, and levitated my suitcase so I could get it up the stairs.  
  
***  
  
I couldn't help but stare. My room was... big. And empty. No posters or anything. (Of course, that made sense. I was the one who was supposed to be putting posters in it.) It creeped me out somehow. Even when I travel, and stay in hotels or something, there's some sort of painting on the wall. The view was nice, but it would take a while for me to get comfortable. I dropped my suitcase on the ground.   
  
"Do you want to meet everyone now, or unpack first?" Jean asked from behind me.  
  
I thought about it for a moment, then replied, "I think I'll meet everyone."  
  
I walked back down the stairs. Apparently, everyone was waiting for me outside. So, (a little nervously) I made my way out through the front door again. Around the corner, I could hear some people talking. So, I turned the corner.  
  
Suddenly, a huge crowd of people came running towards me. Luckily, I was prepared for this. I mean, I have 87 cousins. Wait... never mind. I only have 86 because one of the ones I don't know got disowned or something. Anyway, when you see that many people at family reunions, then you get used to being surrounded by crowds pretty quickly.  
  
In the tumultuous talking that followed, someone in the back with a southern accent said, "Give tha girl some space!" And, eventually, I had enough room to breath. Ororo, who somehow had managed to get by me, said,  
  
"Everyone, this is Jennifer Morris. Now, please sit down in a circle, and we will all introduce ourselves.  
  
Eventually, everyone obeyed. I was a little surprised to realize that most of the people were... all one boy. And disappearing quickly. (His name is/was Jamie Madrox) "Now, Jennifer, please say your name, where you are from, your power, and your age."  
  
I couldn't help but give a small smile. Teachers always insist on doing that kind of 'getting to know you thing.' It actually annoys me most of the time, but I started anyway.  
  
"My name is Jennifer Morris. I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm still trying to figure out what my power is, but I make these thingys." I then took off one of my gloves. My hand began to glow, and then a light ball thingy appeared, floating right above my palm. I put the glove back on, careful not to touch the ball. "I'm fourteen."  
  
"Are you a polygamist?" Some boy across the circle from me asked. (I later found out that his name was Bobby Drake.)  
  
I rolled my eyes. "No. Polygamy is illegal, and disgusting." As I spoke, the ball disappeared. "Wait a second!" I said, then took my glove back off. A ball came out of my hands. I rolled my eyes. It disappeared. "So that's how I get rid of them!" I said.  
  
I probably could have sat there for a while, rolling my eyes and making balls of light, for a few hours. Luckily, everyone wanted to talk. So, I got introduced to everyone. I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. I was living in a house with about sixteen strangers. Not to mention the teachers; I'd seen three already. But I didn't have much time to wallow in self pity.  
  
"Hey! Anyone want pizza?" Someone called through the kitchen window. A huge stampede charged into the house. (Growing larger as it went, thanks to a certain twelve year old boy.) And I had to relax. There's something odd about pizza; over it, strangers can become friends.  
  
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Me: Wow! Three pages! My new record!  
  
Jet: That's a pitiful record.  
  
Me: Fine then. I'll beat it next chapter.  
  
Jet: Ri-ight.  
  
Me: So, whadya think? Please review! 


	5. Estrella

Chapter Five: Estrella  
  
Me: ¡Holá! ¿Como estás tú?  
  
Jet: For those of you who aren't bilingual, or at least don't speak Spanish, Chaotic Dreamer just said: Hello! How are you!  
  
Me: Sorry, but I'm excited because my Dad just taught me some Dutch. But I can't spell it. So I'm writing stuff in Spanish, which I take in school. ^_^  
  
Jet: Did you get into the froot loops again?  
  
Shout Out thingys  
  
Elf: Just so you know, Jet's actually a girl. Anyway, glad you like it. Tell Beefy I said hi!  
  
Disclaimer: X-men is something that I do not own. I don't own froot loops either, but I eat them and get hyper. Be very afraid. ^_^  
  
Jet: She's using emoticons. Not a good sign.  
  
+*+*+*+*+*+*+* FUNKY LINE!!!!!!! +*+*+*+*+*++*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*  
  
After dinner, everyone went to the 'rec room.' For a few minutes, everyone went about doing whatever. Unsure of what to do, I just sat down and daydreamed.  
  
"Hello!"A voice suddenly started me out of my reverie.  
  
I blinked. Kurt was waving an arm in front of me. Only, he was hanging from the cieling.   
  
"Hi." I said. I couldn't think of a more intelligent response.  
  
"You need to come to the ceremony!" He said, then disappeared in a cloud of sulphury smoke.  
  
"Ceremony?" I asked, but when I looked around, the rec room was empty. Kitty walked in (through the door. Not the doorway, the door.) and pulled me up.   
  
"Like, come on!" She said, and pulled me through the closed door, into the hallway. I followed her around a few staircases into a library. The lights were out, but the room was lit with gold candles. In the dim light, I could make out the shadows of all the other students in the institute, but I couldn't see anyone's face.  
  
"Jennifer Morris." Kurt said. His voice was coming from near the ceiling, a few feet ahead of me, and seemed oddly sinister. I couldn't see anything but a pair of glowing yellow eyes.  
  
"You have joined the ranks of... this school. But to be accepted, you must write your name on the wall of... people. I blinked. Someone (I couldn't tell who) handed me a pen.   
  
Amara's face appeared in front of me. Her hand was on fire, and she held it up so her face turned eerie. She beckoned, and I followed her to a piece of paper taped to the wall. On it was a list of names.   
  
"Behold, the ancient runes of... code names."  
  
"Ancient! Kurt, you like, made that ten minutes ago!" Kitty's voice rang out in the dark, spoiling the atmosphere.  
  
"Shh!" Someone said, and I read the list.  
  
Cyclops  
  
Jean Grey  
  
Nightcrawler  
  
Shadowcat  
  
Spyke  
  
Rouge  
  
Berzerker  
  
Magma  
  
Iceman  
  
Multiple  
  
Wolfsbane  
  
Jubilee  
  
Cannonball  
  
Sunspot  
  
I paused for a moment, then wrote at the bottom:  
  
Estrella  
  
"Estrella?" Someone asked, pronouncing it Es-trel-la  
  
"Estrella. It's Spanish for star." I said, pronouncing it Eh-strey-ah.  
  
Someone turned on the lights, and the candles were blown out. In the unspooky, electrical light, I saw a banner which read "WELCOME TO THE X-MEN!", and had everyone's signatures.  
  
The X-men. Apparently a group name for the people here. I looked around at the many people surrounding me, with grins, wondering what I was going to say.  
  
"Thanks." I said. It annoys me how, when you join a group, adults make you do all those introduction things. Where were you born? What's your favorite color? Answering those questions doesn't make you feel anything for the ones your talking too. But this; this was the kind of welcome everyone needs.  
  
"I'd better warn you." I added. "You have now officially given me permission to stop being shy. That's something you might regret."  
  
Rahne, a girl with a Scottish accent, grinned. "We'll chance it."  
  
***  
  
Email from Jennifer Morris to her parents:  
  
Dear Mom and Dad,  
  
Hi! I'm here. The school is really big, and filled to bursting with people my age. What with some of the powers I've seen, I'm surprised the place is still standing.  
  
Yes Mom, there are some cute boys. No, I do not have a crush on any of them.  
  
I was a little bit nervous when I first got here, and I miss you both, (And even Sabrina and Jacob) a great deal. But, after the welcome I've gotten here, I think I'll get along just fine. Everyone is trying to make sure I feel welcome, and they're doing a good job.  
  
Well, Jubes (a girl at school, her name is Jubilation, but everyone calls her Jubes or Jubilee) wants to use the computer. I'll write again soon.  
  
Love,  
  
Jen  
  
P.S. Tell Sabrina and Jacob that I love them too.  
  
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*  
  
Me: Awwwwwwwwwwww! How cute! ^_^  
  
Jet: That's it! *sets fire to all the froot loops boxes*  
  
Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO *pause for breath* OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
  
Jet: Since Chaotic Dreamer obviously can't say it, review. Or I'll burn your froot loops. Mua-ha-ha-ha... Did I actually laugh manically? 


	6. Rude Awakening

Chapter Six: A Rude Awakening, And A New Life.   
  
Me: Wow! Lot's of people reviewed! Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Oh, and sorry it's been so long. But I've been really busy lately. As in I have a piano recital, two orchestra concerts, a play, and five tests to worry about. But I should be back to my depressingly empty schedule again soon.   
  
SHOUT-OUT'S   
  
Snowfire the Kitsune: Thanks for the mischief, it will be put to good use.   
  
Agent-G: Well, I plan on having her fight the BoM very soon. Possibly this chapter, but I haven't typed that far yet.   
  
Elf: Jet isn't too insulted, but only because I found out that she can be bribed with yogurt. (The vet never said rabbits couldn't eat it, but just in case don't feed yogurt to any rabbits you might get at some point in your lifetime without checking first. Just so no one sues me for sick rabbits.) Thanks for the kudos!   
  
Dark Jaded Rose: It's okay. Glad that you are enjoying this!   
  
Elf: Well, you didn't lose your froot loops.   
  
malciah: You should have gotten a review by now, but I'll put my opinions right here anyway. You're story is a little creepy, but pretty cool. It will be interesting to see what is still to come.   
  
X00001: Interesting pen-name! Anyway, glad you like it!   
  
WerewolfLass: Thanks! There will be plenty of Rahne. No as much Ray, but he'll show up every once in a while.   
  
Elven Mischief: Glad you do! ^-^ to you too!   
  
paprika90: Thanks!   
  
Persona: I'll let Jet answer that question. J  
  
et: Yes, I will! I burn everything! Ha-ha-ha! *burns my socks.*   
  
Me: Yes, yogurt definitely does make Jet hyper. And it seems to be a bad thing. Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN X-MEN EVOLUTION! I don't own Toucan Sam either, and I own a box a froot loops, not the company. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO   
  
5:00 AM. A slight breeze ruffled the tufted grass, whispering stories to the sky and carrying the faintest trace of sea salt, as silver clouds crossed the heavens, marked by a single rip which showed the jewel-like shimmering of three stars, the last to fade. The silvery moon hung in the air, her expressionless face watching the earth below. In the distance, an eerie greenish tinge filled the eastern horizon, and someone's sprinklers turned on. It was a quiet moment, untouched by human noise. For a while.   
  
***  
  
"AH!" I was screaming, but I doubt anyone heard me. Way too early in the morning for anyone but me. Well actually, I was surprised I hadn't woken up earlier. Jet lag probably. But that wasn't my problem. You see, I'd woken up to find a ceiling three inches away from my face. That is not a common occurrence. So I looked down. And I was floating. Once again, not a common occurrence. So, I screamed. Partly from surprise, and partly because I hate heights.   
  
"This is not good." I muttered to myself, trying to calm down. "Let's see. If I start to fall, I can grab the ceiling fan, and either lower myself down or wait for help to wake up. But as I'm not falling, that does me zero good right now. Hm. Let's see, in science class last year there was all that stuff about physics. Newton said that every action has an equal an opposite reaction. The man's supposed to be a genius, let's see if he's right."   
  
So, I summed up all my strength, and pushed against the ceiling. And I moved down. By two inches. "Okay, so I'm obviously not going to get down that way, unless I suddenly become 2057 times stronger."   
  
I looked around the room, trying to find something helpful. As I found nothing, I took off my gloves again, and watched the light balls begin to appear. "You know," I said, talking to myself again, "I need a better name then 'balls of light.' For now I'll call them... Estrellitas! Little stars!" Smiling at my own brilliance (or lack thereof) I failed to notice that my altitude was decreasing.   
  
Wumph!   
  
I blinked, slightly winded. I'd landed on my bed somehow, but I was still in a bit of pain. However, as far as I knew, no one else was awake yet. So, I rolled my eyes, put my gloves back on, and decided to try and figure out what on earth (or off it) had just happened over an early breakfast.   
  
Only, fate was against me on that. You see, I was a little... lost? So, I began to wander the Institute hallways at random, looking for the kitchen. Or a door leading outside, so I could find the kitchen window and get my bearings. It just so happens that I found the latter first. So I walked outside just in time to get a spectacular view of the sunrise. Okay, call me weak. But seeing the sunrise made me very homesick. You see, on the horizon I could see what were probably sky-scrapers, and apparently there was a forest very nearby. And I do like forests a lot. But... there were no mountains. Zero! ¡Nada! Flat horizon! I've lived in Salt Lake Valley for most of my life, and I knew those mountains. Back home, the mountains were the spectacular view that converted me to morning-personism, my compass, a topic for speech, photography practice, hiking grounds... I missed the Wasatch range. But, mountains or not, I was stuck in Bayville now. So I'd better make the best of it.   
  
Anyway, as I admired the view, I began to walk around the building for a better vantage point. Not paying attention to where I was going, because I zone out a lot. Just my luck to bump into the only other morning person in the mansion. Well, trip over is more like.   
  
"Sorry!" I said, getting up and offering a hand to help up the boy I'd knocked down. The boy (I couldn't remember his name) pulled himself up, and walked away without a word, apparently with a hurt ego by his strut. He looked Hispanic, or maybe Brazilian. (I can't tell them apart except by accent, and the kid wasn't talking.) That boy... oh yeah! Roberto, or something like that. Anyway, he was actually kinda cute. But I was too annoyed at him being all proud. It drives me nuts when people are too arrogant to get some help when they need it. (Unless I'm doing that. But I still get annoyed, just at myself. Is it unusual to get mad at yourself for refusing someone's help while you're in the process of refusing?) So, I began storming off in the opposite direction.   
  
Only, after a few moments I realized that I'd passed the kitchen window. So I had to go back, find the kitchen window, find the closest door, and find my way to the kitchen, all the while wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to make maps of the place and hang them all over. You know, the 'You are here' signs?   
  
Anyway, as I finally found my way to the kitchen, I was faced with a new dilemma: Where on earth was the food supposed to be? After a search, I found a box of froot loops hidden clumsily underneath some silverware. (And I thought I was disorganized.)   
  
So, I sat down at the table with some froot loops, a bowl, and a carton of milk. (Embarrassingly, I was entranced by the carton. I'd only gotten milk in the plastic jugs before, except for school milk. Which I refused to drink because it tasted bad. But I wouldn't get the school orange juice either, because I once found a spider in my juice carton. My unopened juice carton. So, basically, I hadn't used a milk carton for a whole year.) I got comfy, said the blessing on the food, and was just about to begin a nice breakfast.   
  
CRASH!   
  
I jumped three feet in the air, then ran towards the noise. Jamie (the kid who xeroxes himself) had fallen down the stairs. He seemed okay... or many of him did. "Which one is the original?" I asked, hoping he hadn't gotten hurt. He looks like my little brother, so I suddenly felt responsible for him. (Only, he was three inches shorter, and four years older. But still, the resemblance was there.) "Me!" One of them said. But I couldn't figure out which. After a few minutes, I just convinced the duplicates that when they found Jamie, they'd make sure he was okay. After all, falling down stair cases hurts. (I've done it once or twice. Okay, seventeen times then.)   
  
So, I went back to the table, and began to pour the froot loops. And... two froot loops came out. They were both blue, and very sugary. But not exactly filling. So, I searched the cupboards again. No cereal.   
  
By this time, a few people were waking up and coming into the kitchen. Kurt, the German boy, was the first one. I didn't recognize him at first though. You see... he was blue. (Coincidentally, the same color as my froot loops.) And he had a tail. Luckily, I was too annoyed about breakfast to do anything that might have been construed as unkind. To my surprise, he began to pull cereal boxes out of the fridge.   
  
"Why is the cereal in there?" I asked, blinking.   
  
"I have asked, but no one vill answer." He finally found some Lucky Charms [1] and began to eat.   
  
"Any Froot loops?" I asked hopefully, looking at the boxes Kurt had removed. "Try the silverware drawer."   
  
"The box is empty." Kurt ignored my last statement, as he was now completely engrossed in his breakfast. So, I gave up and made myself five slices of toast. At least nothing messed that up.  
  
***  
  
Two hours later I was sitting in Scott's car, preparing myself for my first day at Bayville High. I was a little confused. Apparently I was going to tenth grade because of some spelling error or something that made it so I wasn't going to ninth. Which confused me, but I'm a fast learner. So hopefully I'd adapt pretty quick. And when you're six feet tall, people believe you if you pretend to be older then you are. (It's kind of funny. Once I convinced someone that I was Mrs. Morris. (My mom.) Which is a little freaky, because I don't think I look thirty seven. People are way to gullible.)   
  
Still, I was a little nervous. In Utah, ninth grade is in middle school rather than high school. So I was in a new school, new house, new grade, and a different type of school. In fact, you could cross out nervous and insert terrified.   
  
When we finally got to the school, I took a deep breath and followed Jubilee to the office to get my schedule. I had to wait a few seconds for the lady in the office to find it, so I looked made faces in a mirror that was on the wall for some reason when she wasn't looking. Then I stopped, and looked at my clothes. I couldn't help but give a small grin. Navy blue pants, navy blue gloves with the fingers cut out. Rainbow tye-die t-shirt, and neon yellow shoes. One green sock, and one red sock. When Kitty had seen me that morning, she looked like she wanted to strangle me for breaking every single fashion law in existence.   
  
After a while, I got my schedule. "Lets see. English, Social Studies, Math, Biology, yadah yadah. All that stuff. Ah, yes! Guitar[2]!"   
  
So off I went to my various classes. I had no trouble finding my way around whatsoever. (Okay, so I got lost five times, didn't use my locker because I couldn't find it, and had to ask seventeen people for dictions. I even walked into the wrong classroom twice. But that's not much trouble, is it?)   
  
Nothing really eventful happened until Guitar though. As the class started warming up, the girl next to me whispered,   
  
"Nice shoes."   
  
"Thanks." I said, looking her over. She was about a foot shorter then me, with Red-Brown hair drawn up in a ponytail. She was dressed a little like Jean, which I found just a little bit funny. "So, what's your name?" I asked, wondering if this was a potential friend.   
  
"Sydney."   
  
"Jen."   
  
"Er-erm." We looked up. Apparently warm-ups were over, and the teacher was looking at us sternly. "And now that you two are so kind to join us, would you all begin your D Minor Scales?" She said, with a knife-like voice.   
  
Well, worse days have happened. And somehow, this day had taught me something.   
  
Bayville might not be such a bad place after all. 0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0OO0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0   
  
[1] I don't own Lucky Charms either.   
  
[2] I don't play guitar, but if anyone does, could you tell me whether or not you can play guitar while wearing gloves? You can play violin like that, but they can't cover your fingers.   
  
Jet: You're making a human OC?   
  
Me: Sure. Why not?   
  
Jet: She's too boring. And she looks like Jean.   
  
Me: Before this fic is over, she'll look like Rouge for a while. Oh, wait, I shouldn't have revealed that. *duct tapes mouth to keep from saying more, then realizes that she was typing, not talking. Is now trying to remove duck tape*   
  
Jet: If I'm really the one who's inspiring all this, I'm doing a poor job as a muse.   
  
REVIEW PLEASE! ^_^ 


	7. Not so brotherly brotherhood

THE NOT SO BROTHERLY BROTHERHOOD  
  
Me: (whispering) Sorry I haven't written for an extremely long time. You see, Jet has decided that it's her responsibility as my muse to prevent me from writing any more of this story. But she's asleep right now, and I'm borrowing my Dad's old muse. And now that I have Socki-Yoki, I am making a goal to update every week.  
  
Socki-Yoki: (Is a sock monkey)  
  
Me: (still whispering) Say hello!  
  
Socki-Yoki: (Is a sock monkey)  
  
Me: Um... how about I just write the chapter already?  
  
Socki-Yoki: (is a sock monkey)  
  
Me: Shut up.  
  
SHOUT OUTS:

Electric Fire/Elf: Happy several months late St. Patrick's day back!  
  
Agent-G: I bow to you're superior guitar knowledge. does  
  
Morrigan Fearn: Well, too late for the virtual yogurt. Though actually, that's how I got Jet to fall asleep. As for your question: looks at watch the plot will pick up next chapter.  
  
Eden: Thanks!  
  
malciah: Thanks.  
  
Katterree Fengari: I'm an astronomy nut, so I knew that. Let me explain myself though: The stars themselves don't change: it's our perception of them that changes. Just because we see different stars in January then in July doesn't mean that the stars are moving, it simply means that we're looking at different stars. And the night sky is the same on September First this year, as it is on September first next year. Unless you take clouds and the moon cycle into account, but we weren't talking about that.  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything except for Jen, Sydney, and this story. I don't even own Socki-Yoki. Deal with it.

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After school, I did my homework, then couldn't think of anything else to do. At all. So I decided to make one of those map thingys for the institute. I grabbed a piece of paper and a crayon, drew my room, then went out the door to explore. Only, I walked into Kitty. In fact I walked through Kitty, which was a tiny bit of a shock. Kitty grabbed my arm, stuck it into the wall, then walked into my room and looked in my closet. 

"Do you like, have anything that's not in tie-dye?!?" She asked, turning around.

"Um... I have three Hawaiian shirts, and a plaid shirt, and... that's it." Kitty gave me an odd glare.

"You are like, coming with me to the mall now! And we are like, getting you normal clothes!!!" I blinked, tried to scratch my head, then remembered that my hand was stuck in the wall.

"I don't suppose I have a choice?"  
  
Thirty minutes later, I was standing in the middle of the mall, the most bored I'd been in my entire life.

"Like, how about this green shirt?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, looks great on you." I said absentmindedly.

"No, for you."

"Um... it's not tie-dye."

"Exactly!!!"

"Fine, I'll tie-dye it myself. Can we go home now?" Kitty looked like she was about to strangle me, but she was distracted by something outside the clothing department, and ran out. Relieved, I followed.

She was talking to some boy I didn't know, who had gloves like mine and torn clothes. She seemed pretty occupied, so I left to get myself an ice cream cone, and hope she'd give up on clothes shopping.

On the way to the food court (isn't it weired how it's easier to find your way around a mall, even if you hate them and avoid going to them whenever possible, and have never been in the mall before, then it is to find you're way from the bedroom to the kitchen? Or maybe it's just me) I couldn't help a boy crouching on a bench. A fly buzzed by him, and the boy's tongue shot out like a frog's. I blinked, lost my appetite for ice cream, and decided to go find Kitty again.

On the way home (after getting that green shirt) I told her about the fly-eating boy. Kitty rolled her eyes and looked disgusted.

"That's toad. He's like, in the brotherhood."

"The what?" Kitty started to reply, then the earth started shaking.

"Them." Kitty pointed. 'Toad,' the boy Kitty had been talking to, a blonde girl, and two other boys were in the process of... doing something to a street light.

"That's the brotherhood?" I asked. Kitty nodded. "Very... brotherly." I said, tilting my head. The girl was throwing little glowing things at various street lamps, which then exploded. "Someone is obsessed with vandalism." Kitty started running.

"We like, have to stop them." I blinked.

"We do?"

"Yeah, that's like, part of being in the X-men." She said. I suddenly noticed that both of us were in black, skin-tight uniforms, only hers had a pink triangle on the front. And I know I had not put that on this morning.

"This is getting stranger every day." I said quietly, as other people from the institute, also in uniforms, began to appear running after the brotherhood.

"You get used to it." Said Jubilee, the girl who made fireworks. I didn't actually end up doing anything, because the 'x-men' won before I had any idea what was going on, really. It was interesting to watch, though, and lots of stuff blew up. I feel really sorry for whoever cleans up after vandalism though. And then I was back in my normal clothes, and blinking again.

"I don't think this ever happens in Utah." I said, as a huge car came up, driven by Logan, who then took us home. "Well, maybe in Provo...[1]"  
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[1] Utah joke. Don't worry about it, unless you're actually from Provo...  
  
Me: (Bangs head on keyboard) That chapter was unusually dumb. Maybe it's a bad idea to write with other people's muses.  
  
Jet: (yawns) So, did I miss anything?  
  
Socki-Yoki: (Is a sock monkey)  
  
Me: Um, no. (hurriedly posts the chapter, then brings up a tetris game on the computer)  
  
Jet: (looks at Socki-Yoki )Why do you have your Dad's old toy down here? And wasn't it at your grandma's house? (narrows her eyes) You weren't writing, were you?  
  
Me: (attempts to whistle, and fails miserably)  
  
Jet: (sighs) The fools I surround myself with...


	8. A plot begins

WARNING: IN THIS CHAPTER, CHAOTIC DREAMER WILL CREATE SOME SEMBLANCE OF A PLOT, AND A BIT OF 'HORROR..' BE VERY AFRAID!!!

Me: Okay, I discovered last week that using other people's muses can have bad effects. Hence the end of chapter seven. But Jet does not want me to write this story, and I need her to inspire me. (sighs) That's the trouble with having a rabbit for a muse. So, I really had no choice.

Jet: (muffled) Get me out of here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: I got Jet a fireproof cage and locked her in it.

Jet: You'll pay for this!!!!

Me: Must I?

Jet: You have to let me out eventually!!

Me: Yes, but I'm the one who feeds you, and you can't open the bags I keep your food it.

Jet: Actually, I'm considering changing my diet to barbecued human.

Me: (hurriedly) Well, I'm also the one who cleans your litter box.

Jet: I don't have to kill you to make you pay...

Me: (gulps)

SHOUT OUTS:

Snowfire the Kitsune: I'm so sorry! I don't know how I missed your review in the shout-outs last chapter! Anyway, you're exactly correct about Jen and Roberto.

triquetraperson: Okay, thanks. Maybe I'll have Soki-Yoki come back and visit some time.

Agent-G: Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, this chapter should be a bit better.

Electric Fire/Elf: Thanks for the offer. Maybe I'll borrow Beefy next chapter. Thanks for the compliments!

Evil-Bunny-Leader/pyrosgal: Glad you like the story. And I'm sure it comforts Jet to know she has a fan. (over shoulder) Right?

Jet: Just let me out already!!!

Me shouting out again: Really? I never knew that about plug-in fans. I'll have to try that just to freak my mom out... (evil grin)

DISCLAIMER: Has anything I have done made the slightest illusion that I could possibly own X-Evo? I didn't think so.

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Bryan:

It's a little strange when no one can see or hear you. For one thing, you can get to know people really well, better then they know themselves sometimes, without them even knowing you exist. You can do things that you couldn't do otherwise, and wouldn't do otherwise, and all your perceptions change.

I'm not sure I like these changes.

But as I've traveled, I've found people that I care about as much as I would if I could talk to them. People who might be able to help me.

First, though, I need to help them. They are in incredible danger, and I have to find a way to tell them this.

Problem is, there's no way for me to say anything.

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Jennifer:

I was on my bike, like I was every morning. I grinned as I reached 'the hill.' It was the steepest downhill in Salt Lake City, and well worth the trip up it to ride back down. I stopped for a few seconds, to make sure there weren't any cars. Then I picked my feet up, and coasted almost strait down.

Suddenly a boy appeared on the road in front of me. I tried to move the bike, but the handle bars weren't working. I jumped off the bike, and it fell to the ground, and slid down the road, hitting my head on a metal pole. The boy ran towards me, his face pale and full of concern. He opened his mouth to speak, but all I heard was a sucking noise coming from above me.

I looked up, and saw that the pole I'd hit was a stop sign, one with a shadowy hole in the middle of the 'O.' The stop sign was slowly growing bigger and bigger, and I could feel myself being pulled through the hole at an alarming rate. Soon I was surrounded by darkness. And then I stopped moving, and in front of me I could see an old, run down building. Someone inside was screaming...

And then I opened my eyes, and took a deep breath. I was in New York, not Utah, and there were no stop signs trying to eat me. I was however, an inch away from the ceiling again.

"Ahhhhh!" Wumph!

Well, it took less time to get down today.

I sighed and got out of bed, rubbing my head. I had a headache, though the only possible cause for it that I could think of was sliding into a stop sign, and I hadn't done that for three months.

Once I had gotten dressed, I picked up my pencil and paper, and decided that I might as well make my map on the way to breakfast, since I had four or five hours with nothing better to do. I drew a rectangle on the edge of the paper, labeled it "My room" then stepped out the door.

One hour later, I was completely and totally lost. Again. I tried to use the map to get back to where I had started, but apparently I'd made some really bad mistakes. Finally I simply gave up, got outside as quickly as possible (another 20 minutes), and found my bedroom window. Now, was it at all conceivable that I could climb up?

Nope.

Well... wasn't I flying this morning? Or was that just some strange occurrence in New York that no one had bothered to mention[1]? Somehow I doubted the latter. So... I can fly?

I blinked. That made no sense whatsoever. But hey, it was worth a try.

I closed my eyes, and willed myself to leave the ground. Nothing happened.

I jumped up and down, flapping my arms like wings. That didn't work either.

After a while, I gave up. Maybe it was just some New York phenomenon. Besides, how would I have opened my window?

So, I walked around the house to find the kitchen and eat an early breakfast. Eventually I did get in there, but there were still no froot loops, in the fridge, silverware drawer, freezer, oven, under the sink, or anywhere else. So I had to content myself with Lucky Charms.

I still had nothing to do. At all. So I went to my room (which took some time to find) and spent the rest of my morning before school attaching candy wrappers to my wall. (Less expensive then wall paper, and your room smells like chocolate.)

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Later at school, I met Sydney again in guitar. I didn't recognize her for a second though. You see, she had died her hair black, put on really heavy dark makeup, a dark purple shirt and mini skirt, a black trench coat, fang-like earings, and really high black boots. It was... just a little bit weird. But can I really talk? I mean, I make balls of light come out of my hands, wallpaper my room with candy wrappers, and wake up floating near the ceiling. If I have the right to be that strange, she has the right to go from preppy to goth in one night.

"Hi, Sydney." I said once I recognized her, then sat down and opened my guitar case.

Sydney looked at me for a second as if she was expecting me to say something else, then nodded.

"So... what's up?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

"The ceiling." She said impassively.

"Really?" I asked, looking up. "It seems to me that it might fall down any minute." I wasn't being sarcastic: I meant it. The ceiling in this classroom was looking fairly shabby, and... burnt?

"Um–" I tried to think of something to say. Awkward silences aren't very fun. "A lot of people are wearing socks these days. How do you feel about that?"

Sydney blinked, then laughed. "Socks? I don't.[2]"

"Don't wear socks, or don't feel about them?"

"Depends on the day for both."

"Okay."

And then we had to shut up because class started, and the teacher was glaring at us.

After class, Sydney walked up to me.

"So, where are you from?"

"Utah."

"Are you at that Xavier place?"

"Yes, actually."

"There are some really weird people around there, and I heard there's a werewolf."

"A werewolf?"

"Yeah. What do you do there anyway?"

"Um, art lessons and stuff." I felt bad about lying. But my candy-wrappered room was kind of like a mural, and maybe I could find a way to organize the wrappers so it looked like a picture. Then I'd have given my self an art lesson, so I wasn't lying. Much better.

"Well, if strange stuff does happen there, you'll have to tell me about it. I've been wondering about the rumors."

Since guitar was our last class, we went to both our lockers and then outside, just talking. I found out that Sydney is an only child, has a pet chinchilla[3], and likes acting.

When we got outside, Sydney whispered to me,

"There's two men staring at us from across the street."

"You sure they're looking at us?"

"Yeah." I turned around, and two men in a white car looked away. Something about them freaked me out, and when I said good bye to Sydney, I practically ran to Scott's car.

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[1] If anyone reading this has been to New York, I would be curious to know if that actually happens. I doubt it, but it would be really really weird...

[2] My friends made up the socks comment as a way to break the ice if you're talking to a boy you have a crush on. That doesn't happen much to me, so I use it as a conversation starter. And everyone I've used it on says "Socks?" Then either says "I don't," or "I like them." Every time.

[3] My cousin had a pet chinchilla. It was like a giant squirrel.

Me: (looking at Jet) Do you think that's kind of a plot?

Jet: No.

Me: Do you like Sydney a bit better now?

Jet: No.

Me: What's you're problem?

Jet: I'm locked in a fireproof cage. What do you think my problem is?

Me: (hands Jet some froot loops) These'll make you feel better!

Jet: Why do I even bother?


	9. Dreams and paranoia

DREAMS AND PARANOIA

Me: I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Jet: What a pity.

Me: Um... sorry I was gone for... ever and ever. But here's the next chapter, where the plot almost thinckens.

Jet: Keyword being 'almost.'

Me: True. Perhaps it's more practice at looking at things through a different perspective...

Jet: You're practicing on the actual thing you're practicing for? That is kind of sad.

Me: That's a depressing statement... you need froot loops!

SHOUT OUTS!

triquetraperson: You'll find out in a few chapters. Thanks!

Persona the ITG: Thanks.

Jet: Yes, poor me. It took me hours to get out of there.

X00001: Thank you very much.

Evil-Bunny-Leader: Well, this is kind of soon... anyway, glad you like the candy wrapper idea. I've been dying to use that idea somewhere for ages.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own x-men. Or Froot Loops. Or any of the candy bars mentioned here. Get it? Got it? Good. (I don't own that either. Where is it from again?)

9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999  
Sydney's P.O.V. 

I sat up, panting and sweating. I took a deep breath, then reached around blindly until I found my lamp and turned it on. Then I took a pale violet book from off of my nightstand, a dream journal, as well as a red fuzzy pen, and quickly wrote down what I remembered.

I had been walking somewhere, at night. I had felt calm. Then I heard something behind me. I spun around, and saw a car speeding towards me. I screamed, and jumped to the side, but not far enough and the car hit me. It stopped, and a boy hopped out of the driver's seat, looking concerned. I looked behind him, and instead of the car I saw an old, run down building. A girl holding a battered looking bike was staring at the building too, and she and I both winced as someone inside screamed. A person with a gas mask on peered through a window at us, and then I woke up.

I then made a list of keywords from my dream, and used a dream dictionary I also had to see what they meant:

walk

To walk in the night hours brings with it much discontent

night

obstacles in reaching goals

car

The condition of the car reflects your health

boy

Boys in dreams are good omens

building

Run-down buildings means failure in love.

girl

learning to be acceptive

bike

an important decision

mask

Hiding something from yourself

window

Feelings of being watched

So, I was dicontented, had obstacles, my health was about to crash, I'm hiding something from myself, I feel that I'm being watched, I have an important decision to make, I'm going to have failure in love, and yet I will learn to be acceptive and this was supposed to be a good omen?

I put my dream journal and dictionary and pen back down with a sigh. This wasn't really working; none of my interpretations made any sense. I looked at the alarm clock; it was 3:00. I turned the light off and went back to bed.

At 6:50, I groaned, and got out of bed. Another day of school, as usual. I streched, then tilted my head as I looked into my closet. Who would I be today? I was gothic yesterday, and a preppy the day before. I considered valley girl, but I didn't feel like it. Nor did I feel like nerd. Surfer girl? No, my hawaiian shirt was in the laundry. How about nature lover? I was feeling kind of vegetarian today.

A few minutes later, I looked in the mirror. Normal jeans, green shirt that said 'Save the Trees.' With matching bracelet. Hair in a braid, and in it's natural shade of auburn, for lack of a better idea. No makeup, except for some fake but realistic looking freckles. Now I just needed a protest sign that said 'Save our Shrews(1)' or something, but I wouldn't be able to take that to school.The combination looked well; I was your stereotypical treehugger.

I stepped into the hallway, and looked at Gary, my chinchilla. I considered letting him go, but that was the outfit talking, not me. Besides, chinchillas didn't come from New York, so letting him go would be bad for Gary; not to mention stupid.

I barely got to school on time, because I decided to walk in order to cut down on pollution. When I arrived, I saw a huge group of people getting out of three cars, and recognized them as the people at Xavier's boarding school. Jennifer was there, hopping out of the car with a green guitar case slung over her shoulder. She was wearing jeans, a yellow and white tie-dye shirt, black gloves, and black socks. An interesting combination; perhaps I'd imitate her sometime if I got tired of doing stereotypes. I waved at her, and she grinned and ran up to meet me.

"Hi Sydney." I was a bit surprised by her reaction; this girl had seen me in three different outfits and hadn't even seemed to notice anything unusual.

"Hi." I said, in a higher pitched voice then I normally used.

"How's your chinchilla?"

"I think I might let him go."

"Oh. Why?" Jennifer raised her eyebrows.

"It's cruel to keep animals in cages."

"Ah. Are you going to let him go here, or where chinchillas live? Where do they live anyway?"

"I don't remember, so I'll do it here."

"Okay... well, see you in guitar class." As Jen left, I paused. She was still friendly, even though I was working pretty hard to freak her out. She seemed to be pretty accepting of strange people; perhaps I had made a friend.

I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck, and turned around. A woman was walking her dog, but had stopped to tie her shoe. Either that, or to stare at me, though she turned away when I looked. I was reminded of the two men yesterday afternoon, and the masked face in the dream. Maybe I was being watched. Or was it Jennifer? Or both? I shrugged, then ran to my next class, where I releaved my anxiety by complaining to the teacher about how he wasn't using recycled paper.

After school, I exchanged phone numbers and email addresses with Jen, then walked home. I then changed into my gothic clothes so that my urges to let Gary loose went away.

Jen's P.O.V

I leaned back to admire my work, grinning at my collage of candy wrappers. I had had stroke of genius this morning, and had created a map of the Institute on my bedroom wall, out of candy wrappers. Every room that I had been in was marked with wrappers to indicate furniture and the use of the room. My room had an X and the words 'You are here' made from skittles wrappers, over a M&M floor and beside a Reeses bed, complete with a starburst wrapper for the pillow. Who said this wasn't an art school? I had just made a masterpiece! This was as cool as tie-dye shirts!

Then, lacking a better source of entertainment now that my mural was complete, I went to the 'computer lab' and checked my email. I didn't expect anything, but I had gotten a letter.

To: daughterofprovo yahoo .com (2)

From: population30 aol .com (3)

Subject: Freaky

Hi Jen, it's Sydney. Is it just me, or have a lot of strangers been staring at either you, me, or both of us lately? There was a woman looking at us when we were talking before school this morning, and right now there's a guy across the street from my house smoking a cigarette and writing stuff down in a notebook. Every once in a while he looks at my house, and he's freaking me out. Am I just paranoid, or is something up?

Sydney

----------------------------

Save the Humans!

I blinked, then glanced out the window. I didn't see anyone on the street. I shrugged, and wrote a reply.

To: population30 aol .com

From: daughterofprovo yahoo .com

Subject: Re:Freaky

Either you're paranoid, they're after you, or there's no one watching the Institute (Xavier's place) right now. Or they're on the other side of the building. Whatever. I haven't noticed anything, so I don't really know. By the way, would you like me to send a picture of my latest art project? I think you'll laugh.

Jen

-----------------------

This sentance is in Spanish when you're not looking at it.

Sydney's reply said okay, so I dug around in my bag until I found my camera, snapped a picture, then scanned it into the computer and emailed it to her. This was her reply:

To: daughterofprovo yahoo .com

From: population30 aol .com

Subject: Art Project

Lol!!! :)) Wicked!!!(4)

I still think that something strange is going on, and I'm going to figure it out. Of course, the paranoia could be a result from the nightmare I had last night. Something about being hit by a car, then seeing a building with someone inside screaming, and some girl with a bike. Oh well, gtg. See you tomorrow.

Sydney

------------------------------

Save the Humans!

I sat bolt upright. The nightmare from yesterday night had been repeated this morning, only it ended with me pulling myself up with my bike as support, and seeing a guy with a gas mask in the window of the building. Okay, now I was feeling a bit paranoid too. (5)

999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

(1) On a TV show somewhere, a girl and her friends got arrested for protesting against cutting down a forest. They were looking for a good reason to protest it, and decided to claim it was the habitat of a fictituous 'elk shrew.' At one part, it showed the main character in a prison uniform, holding up a sign that said 'Save our Shrew.' And for some reason I found that funny. I can't remember where I saw it, but I did.

(2) Mormon/Utahn in joke. You see, there's a band named 'Sons of Provo.' It's not a real email adress, or if it is I don't know who has it so don't try it.

(3) Also a made up email address.

(4) I stole that remark from Evil-Bunny-Leader. Hope you don't mind.

(5) I just felt like putting another foot note.

Me: Oh, I think I advanced the plot a little! Yay!

Jet: What plot?

Me: The plot.

Jet: My point exactly.

Me: (is confused)


	10. DR, and a pool game

Chapter 10: In Which We Discover that being more Dangerous then the Danger Room Is not Necessarily a Good Thing.

Me: (Evil Grin) Sugar.

Jet: Chaotic Dreamer got a cold, and so her Mom gave her some candy to suck on for her throat. One day I am going to take my revenge on that woman.

Me: Suga suga suga suga suga suga suga (you get the idea)

Jet: (Puts her head in her paws.) Someone just shoot me now.

Me: Okay (Takes picture with a camera) Gotcha! Suga suga suga suga.

Jet: That wasn't even _funny_.

Me: (sticks tongue out.) By the way, the plot does not advance here at all. Not really. But I couldn't think of a way to advance it without giving too much away. Hey, though, it's a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong chapter. Lo-ong. Suga.

SHOUT OUTS:  
triquetaperson: Wow, you're nice. You reviewed! Yeah, I was kinda going for paranoid.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything herein but Jennifer. If you have a problem with this fact, then perhaps you should stop reading fan fiction.

* * *

I shook my head, then deleted the e-mail. Paranoid was what my Mom did, not me. Someone tapped my shoulder, and I jumped about a foot in the air. Never mind, maybe I did do paranoid.  
"What?" I asked, turning around. Ray, the boy with the orange feather-thingies on his head, was behind me. 

"DR session."

"Huh?" I asked eloquently.

"Danger room. Just follow Jubilee or someone and they'll explain." He then ran down the hallway. I blinked, then left the computer room and latched myself to a passing Rahne. (Not literally)

"Okay, what are we doing?" I asked her, and she explained that this was some kind of training thing. I got a bit confused by most of the details, but finally understood that we had to run around a room with a bunch of lasers and stuff attacking us until Logan said we could leave. And we could use our powers. Fun.

We went into a locker room, and everyone changed into the uniforms. I put my hair in a ponytail with a tie-dye scrunchie I usually carried around in my pocket, just so I'd have something tie-dye on. And then we entered the danger room. Rahne continued to explain that only the 'new recruits' were doing this session. I didn't quite get that concept; apparently the 'X-men' were the older people and the ones who had unique uniforms. The new recruits get into as many fights, so we had to do more DR sessions. Something like that. Anyway, I looked around the room. It was made out of some kind of blue metal, and it was a round room. Near the ceiling was a window to a room where I could see Professor Xavier with something on his head. This was just strange. Crazy New Yorkers.  
Logan was there, as well as all the other 'new recruits.' He started talking when everyone showed up.   
"The goal is to get rid of the guns. Any questions?" I raised my hand.  
"What?" He growled, annoyed that there actually was a question.  
"What on earth does this have to do with anything?" Someone sniggered, but I wanted to know. Logan actually looked kind of confused.  
"Well, you're a mutant so there's lots of bullets most of the time and you have to get into lots of fights and... Oh shut up! Just do it!" His claws came out, and I decided it would be smart to shut up now. He stormed out of the room, and all the doors banged shut. I winced, then looked around.  
"Oh great." I muttered as several of the metal plates on the walls shifted, and various laser guns came out of the cracks. A computer type voice came over a loudspeaker somewhere:  
"Session will begin in Three Two One." And then the guns started shooting.  
I really honestly had no idea what I was doing. So I started dodging. One laser beam came towards my feet, I tried to jump over it, tripped, and almost knocked Jubilee over.  
"Use your power!" She said angrily, throwing a firework type thing at one of the guns.  
I looked down at my hands. I'd gotten gloves with fingers as part of the uniform; and they stuck on annoyingly. Still attempting to dodge, I managed to wrestle one glove off. An Estrellita came out of my hand, and I sent it in the direction of the nearest laser gun. I didn't count on something though; the laser gun was made out of shiny metal. My estrellita got reflected.  
"Oops." I said as it proceeded to bounce off all the walls and guns, and my classmates began shouting as they found something new to dodge. All I could do was watch as the estrellita started moving faster and faster until it was like a ray of light rather then a ball, then it came straight at me. On reflex I put up both my hands and caught it, and held on tight so it wouldn't just bounce off me. In my hands it started getting bigger and brighter. I then remembered to roll my eyes and it turned off. I then looked up to see the glares of the others, though I was slightly comforted by the fact that a hole the size of my estrellita was in a piece of not so shiny material on one of the now disabled guns. But then the guns turned off, and went back into the walls, and Logan walked in.   
"Nightlight?" He said, and after a moment I realized he was talking to me.  
"Um... sorry?" I said.  
"Okay everyone." Logan said. "New plan; we're playing dodge ball. Since Nightlight here needs to sharpen her skills, it's everyone against her. Powers allowed; that's where the ball comes in."   
"Mercy?" I asked as I saw a room full of evil grins. Not to mention fire, fireworks, ice, electricity, claws, and clones.

Two hours later, I was back in my normal clothes. I was also curled up on a couch, wincing as I applied a bandage to one of my burns.   
"Did I really deserve this?" I asked Jamie, who was sitting next to me.   
"Yes." He said, watching the game of pool currently in progress between Ray and Roberto.  
"Thanks for the vote of support." I muttered, putting on another band-aid and glancing at Amara, who was pointedly ignoring me while talking to Jubilee. I gave a sigh; so much for being accepted at the institute. Well, I'd been in worse positions, and it didn't look like I was totally despised and hated. Not totally anyway. I started watching the game too, from lack of a better idea. Ray was stripes and Roberto was solids. Either that or they were both really bad players and kept knocking in each others balls, but they seemed to both be fairly good.  
"Ha!" Roberto shouted as Ray accidentally knocked in the 8 ball. "I remain undefeated! Do any of you dare challenge me, the mighty Roberto?" He said as Ray growled.  
Hm. I thought for a second, then answered.  
"Sure, I've been hoping for a way to lose my remaining dignity today. Any house rules I should know about?" Roberto blinked and smirked.   
"I'm not sure I want to risk putting a hole in the middle of the table, even if that did make the game more interesting."  
"Oh, them's fightin words." I said. "You have to play me now." I grabbed Ray's pole and started fishing balls out of the pockets. Before long we had the table set up.   
"Ladies first." Roberto said with a mock bow.  
"I can wait." I said, and he glared at me. "Hey, you're the one who started it." I then realized that was continuing the ladies first joke and bit my lip to keep from laughing.  
"No, I insist that you go first. I'm in need of a good laugh." He said, and I shrugged.  
"Sorry to disappoint you." I said, resisting the urge to smirk because I look stupid when I do that. But the thing is, I have a talent for pool. I used to play it every day with my dad until he got tired of loosing. Half of that talent is luck, and the other half is that I try moves that most people think really stupid, but I call it talent anyway and whatever it is, it makes me good. I glanced along the pole and hit the cue ball. The balls scattered with a satisfying clatter, and ball number two fell into the corner pocket.  
"Solids." I said, then started to hit the ball again.  
"Careful not to trip on your bandages, mummy." Roberto said. I snorted, causing the ball to go the wrong way.  
"Your turn. And I'll have you know that the Egyptian look is in this year."  
"Maybe out in the middle of nowhere it is, like that one place you come from. What was it again? Idaho?" "Utah." I said. "Don't like potatoes that much."  
"There are actually people who live there?(1)"   
"Yeah, isn't it amazing?" I said with faked awe. "You'd expect everyone in the US to be stupid and live in places like New York." By now conversation in the rec. room had begun to die down, and people were looking back and forth between Roberto and me as if we were playing tennis or Ping-Pong instead of pool. "Well you do have to wonder with Americans. They're not usually very bright." Several non-American students cheered at this.   
"Come to Utah if you want to meet some exceptions." I said cheerfully.   
"So far it hasn't given me that good an impression."  
"Hey, you owe me. I'm related to the guy who invented television on both sides of my family. And he was from Utah.(2)"  
"Both sides of the family? That's disgusting!"  
"Want to see disgusting? There's a mirror in the bathroom."  
"Considering who gave that insult, it's obviously rooted in jealosy."  
"Jealosy of what? The fact that you just got the cue ball in the pocket?"  
"Someone's in denial."  
"You saying that you didn't hit the cue ball in? Cause that would be denial on your part."  
"Guys, break it up." Jean said, entering the room.  
"Aw, I was having fun." I said. She gave me a look, then lifted her hands and the cues flew into them.   
"I think you've had enough of that game." She said, then left.   
"Nice going." Roberto said. I sighed, then sat down on the couch and put on another band-aid.

* * *

(1) Someone in California asked me that once, so yes there are people that stupid in the world.  
(2)Philo T. Farmsworth. Actually, I'm the one related to him on both sides of the family. (By marraige.) In fact, I'm related to him in three ways. (Complicated story with a lot of marraiges.) I couldn't think of a better comeback, so I had her say that.

Me: Hehehe... That was fun to write.

Jet: I wonder about you sometimes.

Me: Don't we all? Well, please leave a review on your way out!


	11. Fortune Telling

CHAPTER 11: Fortune Telling

Me: (coughs) Okay, I am tired of being sick. Somebody just shoot me now!

Jet: If you want, I could arrange that...

Me: Um... or maybe just find a cure for the common cold.

Jet: Fine then. (sulks in a corner.)

Me: I guess I am lucky. My little sister has strept throat and tonsilitis. At the same time. Anyway, at the moment of writing this sentence, I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen this chapter. Really. So if it's incredibly stupid, blame my disease and Jet. If it's really good, apply it to my literary genius.

Jet: (snort) Literary Genius?

Me: Oh, hah hah.

SHOUT-OUTS:

triquetraperson: It was an accident, so probably not, but I'm sure she'll find a way to get her revenge. As soon as I find a way to get her her revenge.... And it's nice to know that not all people in California are that ignorant because I have a cousin who's moving there next week. (I have a lot of cousins. 81 total, not counting the people they've married. And all of them are at least four years older than me.)

Readerrr Grrrl: Glad someone actually finds this humorous. (Glances at Jet.) The audiance around here is more mortified than amused. And I'll work on the spaces in the dialouge, thanks for alerting me. And I'm sure that if Jen could read the reviews on her story, she'd be happy to know that she's liked. But she can't, unless I loose all sense of reality in this in the which case your praise about the realisticness of her would be wasted... Yeah. Ignore my ramblings unless they amuse you.

malciah: Thanks. I suppose it would be fun, but I wouldn't know as I hadn't tried. Guess Jen isn't alone in her pool playing styles either then.

Mareo and Anime: Someone here has read Dinotopia at least once. My brother loves that book. Anyway, glad you're enjoying this. The floating thing will be explained eventually, but it might be a long, long eventually...

DISCLAIMER: No tengo nada. Bad grammar but I don't care. For my fellow gringos who are not fluent in that language, I don't own anything.

* * *

Bryan:

As I write this, I am watching the men in the building. They are looking at recordings from various security cameras, and I'm watching too, hoping to figure out what their plan is exactly, and whether or not I can stop them. Most of the footage seems to be of Sydney and Jennifer, the two girls who I suspected them to be after. There is more of Sydney; possibly because the security at the place Jennifer is staying is much more advanced. It makes me feel guilty; I also watch people without them knowing I'm watching, but then I don't use what I see to hurt people. And it's only because I have no choice.

They certainly suspect Jennifer, but don't seem to be completely sure. I can only hope that she has enough control over her powers not to leave anything for them to see. If so, maybe she'll be safe. Maybe they'll decide they were wrong and leave these people alone.

Maybe the moon really is made of cheese.

Well, a fool's hope is better than none. All I can do now is keep writing these letters that no one will ever read, and try to find a way to help.

Jennifer:

Sydney's eyes grew wide when she saw me during guitar class the next day.

"What happened?" She hissed during warm ups.

"Huh?"

"Your band-aids."

"Oh those." I tried to think of an honest answer to that. "Lets just say there are people in the institute who like to play with fire, and I got lots of people mad at me."

"Ouch." I looked her over to see what she looked like today. She was wearing a black skirt, a large long-sleeved white shirt, a maroon vest, lots of necklaces, lots of mascara, a green shawl, and a purple scarf around her hair. And gold hoop earrings.

"Gypsy?" I asked.

"Yes. Do you want to come over after school for a while, get away from your angry house mates? I'm planning on having a seance."

"Sounds fun." I said. "I'll just have to call Professor Xavier, then I'll let you know."

Then the guitar teacher noticed we were talking yet again, and made us sit on different sides of the room.

After class I called the number for the Institute, which my parents had forced me to memorize before I boarded the plane to New York.

_Hello Jennifer. _His voice came into my head before I'd even said anything.

"Hi Professor." I said, feeling akward. "Um, can I go to a friend's house after school?"

"How long are you planning on staying at Sydney's house?" He asked after a moment. I assumed he had been reading my mind to find out where I was going. I related the question to Sydney.

"Whatever works; my Mom doesn't care." A bit of discussion with the Professor, and it was agreed that someone would pick me up in a few hours, so I walked with Sydney to her house.

Sydney's room was almost as boring as mine at the Institute had been when I first entered it. The walls were plain white, with a few photos of her family on one wall. The entire room was white and without decoration, except for a wooden bookshelf. But in the center of the floor was a bright red rug, with a circle of candles, a piece of paper with all the letters of the alphabet aranged in a circle on it, and a piece of string with a rock tied to one end.

"So... what's a seance?" I asked, as Sydney closed the blinds to darken the room, and pulled a box of matches out of her pocket.

"It's when you contact the spirits from the realm beyond." She said in a mysterious voice.

"Cool." Sydney nodded, then struck a match.

"Sit down within the ring." She said, and I obeyed. Sydney then went around the circle, lighting candles, then sitting inside before she lit the last one.

"Okay, now rub this on your third eye." She said, handing me a little cup of some kind of red goop.

"My what?"

"Your third eye. It's in the center of your forehead." I raised my eybrows, shrugged, and rubbed some of the stuff onto my forehead.

"Does this have a purpose?" I asked while Sydney applied it to her face.

"Yes, but I don't know what it is." Sydney put the piece of paper in between us, then picked up the rockless end of the string. "Grab my left hand and concentrate."

"On what?"

"The instructions didn't say. I guess on contacting the spirits from the realm beyond."

"Ah." I did my best not to laugh, and started focusing on 'spirits from the realm beyond.'

Sydney began chanting.

"Ghosts, spirits, beings come from the realms of the dead, come here. Now! Please?" I had an unexplainable feeling that she was making that up.

After Sydney had repeated that a few times, I felt an odd tingling on my spine.

_She's good. _I thought, wondering how Sydney accomplished that. She stopped talking as the room seemed to get a little bit colder, then held the rope over the paper. And though her fingers didn't move, the rope began to swing.

At first the string went in a spiral, then stopped when it had widened out to where the letters where on the paper. Then it began to swing over letters.

'Y-O-U-A-R-E-B-0-T-H-I–" Sydney made a surprised sound, and dropped the string, almost knocking over a candle as she jumped backwards.

"What?" I asked, looking at her, though I was surprized too.

"That's not what it was supposed to do!" Sydney looked shaken. "It's a trick I learned a long time ago; there are little muscles in your fingers that can move the string to what your subconcious is thinking even if you try to keep your hand still. I was going to make up some kind of bogus stuff. But that wasn't what I was thinking for the string to do."

"Weird." I said after a moment of silence. "What do you think the 'spirits from the realm beyond' were trying to tell us before you so rudely interrupted?"

"Um... You are both intelligent?"

"You are both ignorant?"

"You are both idiots."

"You are both illiterate."

"That makes no sense, how would we know they were saying that if we were illiterate?"

"Um... You are both iambic?"

"Say what? Isn't that a kind of poem?"

"I dunno. How about ignitable?"

"Interesting."

"Idols." I tried.

"Impertinant?"

"Maybe it knew you were going to interrupt him."

"How about inept?"

"That could work. How about this; improptu."

"Impressive."

"Incoherant."

"Inconsolable."

"I have it! Incorrect!"

"True enough." Sydney laughed, then added, "Maybe we're in something."

"You are both in a house?"

"You are both in New York?"

"You are both in danger?" I stopped. "Woah." We looked back at the piece of paper and the string with the rock.

"I'm starting to feel paranoid again." Sydney said. "Do you mind if we do something else?"

"Not at all." I said, and helped her blow out the candles. Sydney then got out a 'crystal ball.' It was one of those globes they sell at science museums with the purple electricity in it that follows your hands around. She then proceeded to look into a complicated future where I'd marry a millionare, move to South America, and become nocturnal.

"Somehow I doubt the nocturnal part." I said.

"Oh, whatever. You try to do better." She handed me the ball.

"Well..." I peered into it. "It looks like you're going to get struck by lightning." Sydney glowered at me.

"I want my money back." I snorted.

"Hey, want me to read your palm?" Sydney asked. I started to say yes, but remembered the gloves.

"No thanks, I've heard enough about South American Millionaires." Sydney gave me a thoughtful look, then pulled a deck of cards off her bookshelf and we took turns reading each other's 'futures' until that got boring.

"Let's play a card game." Sydney said.

"All right."

"Do you know War?"

"Nope."

"Equiptian Rack Screw?"

"No."

"Poker?"

"No."

"You don't know how to play poker."

"Mom wouldn't let me play it anyway."

"What _do _you know how to play?"

"Solitare."

"That's not really a two player game."

"Well, there is one game..."

* * *

"Got any sevens?" Sydney asked. 

"Go Fish." A honk sounded outside, and I glanced at the clock. "Oh, it's time for me to go home."

"We'll just say I won then."

"Thanks for having me over, it was fun."

"Oh, no problem. Besides, you can't tell fortunes without someone to tell them to."

"Bye."

I walked out the door, and couldn't help but notice a man across the street in a jogging uniform, who was tying his shoe. Hadn't he been there when we'd first gotten to Sydney's house? I shrugged. My nightmares were starting to get to my head.

* * *

Me: Oh yeah, I rock! (coughs) 

Jet: The sad thing is, she had to use a dictionary to think of possibiliities for what 'You are both i' could be.

Me: Blame the cold.

Jet: Nah, blaming you is more fun.

Me: (coughs) I'm too sick to argue. Please review!


	12. Hauntings

CHAPTER TWELVE: Hauntings

Me: Think... think. Ideas please?

Jet: Giving up is an idea.

Me: Maybe I should take Elf up on that offer to borrow HER muse.

Jet: Oh, fine. (Does magical muse stuff.) You happy?

Me: Tak! (Starts writing.) (Tak is Danish for 'Thanks.' I like Danish. Only know 10 words, but I like what I know)

Jet: Why can't I get a real job...

Me: (looks up from keyboard.) Maybe because you wait for months before you get anything done. And people say I procrastinate!

SHOUT OUTS:  
Readerrr Grrrl: Thanks. I'm glad you like this; but I agree that fuzzy insides are gross. I had to watch a video of fuzzy insides during Health. (shudder)

Thewriterknownasbobtheheadlesschickenwhenloggedin: GO COUGARS! I will get around to emailing you eventually... note the eventually.

ephona: I live near 'Road Redwood'

Hellfires Fury: Sweet! Chinchillas are AWESOME. You totally rock!

unknown: glad you like it!

Lady crymsyn: Thank you very much!

DISCLAIMER: (I forgot to put one in chapter eleven, so this goes for last chapter too.) I own nothing. Period. Sorry to break it to you; if you're extremely distressed over this then seek therapy. I can name a few good psychiatrists, though they didn't help me much... I think I'm the reason one of them quit actually.

* * *

It was a Monday, and I was having a nice solitary breakfast of... Lucky Charms. Storm had gone shopping recently, but I guess Froot Loops aren't her cereal of choice. Much more of this, and I'd start going into withdrawal or something. 

I glanced at the clock. 2:35 AM. This was way too early, even for me, but this last nightmare had been decidedly more vivid. I was riding my bike, and almost crashed into a boy but hit a stop sign instead. He shouts, "You are both in–" but then there's a sound like something exploding and I'm being sucked into the stop sign so I can't hear how he ends. Then I'm standing outside the white building that's in all the dreams, and I hear a scream and some sirens, and see a bunch of people in those white suits people wear in movies when they go decontaminate stuff. For some reason Sydney is standing there too. Then I'm somewhere very dark, and all I know is that I'm afraid, and then WHAM! I'm awake and floating again. I'd have to get around to asking someone why I had been floating in my sleep since I got here. Maybe Jean's telekinesis went awry in her sleep or something.

I finished breakfast with a yawn, then tried to think of some way to entertain myself until I left for school. I'd exhausted my candy wrapper supply, Mom would personally murder me if I rode my bike without knowing the neighborhood well yet, everyone was asleep, and Jubilee had just broken the TV again. Hmm, maybe there were some disadvantages to being a morning person.  
Suddenly the telephone rang. I jumped about three feet in the air; it had been completely silent since no one was up.  
Taking a couple of deep breaths, I answered the phone.

"Hello"

"Is this the Xavier Institute for the Gifted"

"Hi, Sydney." I said, recognizing her voice. "What's up"

"Me." She replied with a yawn. "I don't know how you do it"

"Hey, this is early for me, too. So, why are you up"

"Bad dreams. You too"

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"You were in mine"

"You dream about me? That's so sweet! I didn't know you cared"

"It's too early to have a sense of humor. Besides, I'm suspecting that you saw me in your dream too"

"Okay, you're freaking me out Sydney. You psychic or something"

"Maybe. But all I'm doing is putting two and two together"

"And getting the Pythagorean Theorem! Explain this to me please, what the heck is going on"

"All right." Sydney said. "You've been having nightmares for a while, right"

"Yep"

"So have I. And are you getting hit by a car."

"Um, no. I'm crashing my bike."

"Against a boy?"

"Well, I swerve to miss him and hit that stupid stop sign."

"Is there something special about that stop sign?" Sydney asked, sounding slightly amused.

"Besides the hole I put in the middle."

"By crashing into it with your bike?"

"No, it's a stop sign in Utah. I put the hole there a while back; long, long story. Part of the reason my parents sent me here, in fact. Anyway, continue."

"Well, the boy is the same, and we both are involved in the crashing of vehicles. Then do you see the weird building and the people with chemical suits?" A chill ran down my spine.

"Yes." I said.

"Me too. And do you remember our séance"

"Yeah."

"I think that we're being haunted."Normally I think I would have laughed, but this made sense. And I was already somewhat paranoid; much more of this and I'd have started making conspiracy theories about ceiling tiles.(1) I shivered.

"I guess I believe you. But why? Have you annoyed any dead people?"

"I think that boy we see in the dreams is the ghost, and that he's trying to warn us or tell us something. Maybe those people who've been watching us come from that weird building."

"Are you really sure people have been watching us? Maybe we're just paranoid"

"Have you ever seen a guy spend eight hours fixing the telephone pole outside your house? Especially when no one had been having any problems with their phones or the electricity or anything."

"Well, no. I suppose that's a valid point. You mean it happened"

"Yeah. And there's more."

"What?"

"I've seen the building."

* * *

1: It's not just a theory... 

Me: Ooh, cliffhanger. Anyway, sorry that it's been so long, and I promise to finnish chapter 13 by the time school starts. Cross my heart and hope to die. Ri-ight, Jet? (Gives Jet a 'look')

Jet: Oh, whatever. Your Mom's calling.

Me: She is? Okay, you post this for me then. Please and thank you! (leaves.)

Jet: Finally. (Looks around sneakily, then opens a new document.) My turn.

_If confused, please read; "My Life as a Muse." Thank You._


	13. Mission Impossible

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Mission Impossible 

Me: Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd we're on!

Jet: This is fan fiction, not a radio station.

Me: (blinks.) That was pathetic, even for you. Are you feeling all right?

Jet: (twitches)

Me: Jet?

Jet: (through teeth) Yes, I am perfectly fine.

Me: Good. I'm glad. (shrugs)

SHOUT-OUTS

malciah: Oh, oops. You mean there are STILL people I haven't given this theory to yet? Well, I'll put it at the bottom of the chapter, so scroll down and finally learn the truth about these innocent looking items... (Also, this chapter will be much longer.)

Mareo and Anime: Hmm, it seems I'm getting behind on my task of revealing ceiling tiles for their true purpose. Well, it's at the end, so scroll down and you'll see.

Jet: (mutters) Maybe I should get some of my fellow muses to start a protest or something. I've run into at least three others who understand how badly muses are lacking in rights...

a dragons wings: Hello and thanks! Neither of them got the room; the family uses it for food storage. (It's very vogue in Utah right now; my family has enough emergency food to last us three months of feasting.)

My PenName is...: Thanks.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own X-men Evolution or M&M's. Oh, the fun I could have if I did...

* * *

"What?" I sat up, all traces of exhaustion suddenly gone. "You're kidding me! You've seen it?"

"I think so. It looks a little different in daylight; and there weren't any people in white chemical suits running around it, but I'm pretty sure that's the one."

"Where is it?"  
"On the other side of town. I don't go there often; it's got a lot of gang activity and drugs and stuff." There was a pause, then I spoke.

"We're gonna have to check it out."

"What?" Sydney asked. Apparently she hadn't thought it out that far.

"How else are we supposed to know what the ghost guy's trying to tell us? Or why the people are following us around?"

"Jen, think. The ghost is trying to tell us that we're in danger. That probably means that we shouldn't be going there."

"We don't know that that's what he was saying." I said, though I knew she was probably right. "Besides, what else can we do? If there are people who are endangering us, we don't know who, or why, or what to do about it. We have two options; be increasingly paranoid, or take the offensive." I thought I heard a gulp.

"But if they're watching us," Sydney said, "Then they'll know we're there."

I was about to say something like, 'where's your sense of adventure,' but I decided that peer pressure wasn't nice, and Sydney was quite probably right.

"It's okay if you don't want to go," I said, feeling painfully my lack of tact, "That's probably the right thing to do. But if people are watching me, and there is a ghost giving me nightmares, then I'm just not built to sit around and wait for them to do something. Besides, if you don't go, then maybe you can cover for me and make them think I'm at your house or something."

"Oh, no. If you're going then I am. I don't know what's happening, but we seem to be in this together. So, will you come over this afternoon."

"If I can, which is most likely." I said. Suddenly I heard a scream.

"What was that?" Sydney asked. "Is someone screaming."

"Yep." I replied. "Something about dragon bunnies. I guess someone else is having nightmares." I gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, see you at school."

"Good bye." Sydney said, and I hung up.

I then paused to consider the situation. It suddenly struck me as how ridiculous this was. A few nightmares, some coincidences, and suddenly we were being haunted and watched. Going back to my room, I reasoned that the only reason the idea had made sense was because I was exhausted and sleep-deprived. I mean, it was perhaps possible; stranger things had happened. (Of which I was living proof.) But was it really that believable?

However, it was kind of exciting. I'd still check it out, and I decided not to mention my doubts to Sydney. Besides, now I had some entertainment to fill the time until school started.

What could come in handy for this kind of thing? I surveyed my room, then in a side pocket of my back pack I put a flashlight, sunglasses, a tie-dye hair scrunchie, some M&M's, and a funky thing called a 'q-baton.' (Not sure how to spell that.) It's a wooden carved stick on a key-chain with a slightly pointed end; it could be used to whack knuckles or poke people, and had become forbidden to bring to my old school after an interesting gang fight.

I also changed into a white-gray tie-dye shirt that's less conspicuous then most of my wardrobe, and rather than sneakers I wore some knee-high lace-up boots my Aunt had given me for Christmas. I wasn't sure if any of that would be at all useful, but it was better than nothing. And it made me feel cool.

School was it's usual level of tedium, though someone did set fire to the girl's bathroom during fourth period. From the reactions of the student body, I gathered that this was not an uncommon occurance.

I met up with Sydney during lunch, and during guitar, to plot our move. We had decided to first go to Sydney's house, then we would sneak out the back and try to find an un-surveillanced route to the weird building; so when the school bell rang we practically ran to our lockers to get what we needed for homework.

When we got to Sydney's house, she muttered to me through the side of her mouth,

"There, next to the rose trellis at the neighbor's house. He's pretending to tie his shoelace, but I saw him stop, and they weren't untied."

I blinked at her, then shrugged. That was weird. The conclusion I'd reached this morning, that we were just paranoid, was suddenly a bit less convincing; the man seemed to be having troubles with remembering how to tie a bow.

We stepped inside, and Sydney said,

"We'd better just hang out and do homework for a while, to put them off guard."

So we did, and almost immediately agreed that the Math teacher needed a hobby that didn't include the torture of innocent students. Sydney had got off a little because she was a teacher's-pet-know-it-all today, but dragging our way through eighty problems was not pleasant.

Before long, I found Sydney bombarding me with questions about life at the Institute. Luckily I didn't have to lie about being mutants or anything; she was asking about the male occupants of the household.

"Really," Sydney said, "It's unfair. Most of the good looking guys in the school are in the same building as you, and most of them even have accents."

"Um." I said. Honestly, I hadn't actually noticed. Well, I'd noticed the accents, but not the way she had.

"I don't know how you can be so apathetic about it; there's Evan, and Sam, and Bobby, and Ray, and Roberto-"At that point I lost it, and started laughing.

"What?" Sydney asked.

"For one thing, I must wonder at who you think is cute. I mean, Ray looks like he has orange feathers glued to his forehead or something! And then you envy me the company of some of these people? You have never met a guy more annoying than Roberto, I can say. And his fan club is down right alarming!" I told Sydney about a girl who, that weekend, had climbed up the Institute wall, through a window, then stole a pair of heart-covered boxers from his room. She then got caught exclaiming over his toothbrush very loudly and excitedly, and took a photograph of Roberto before she left. He had seemed pleased and amused, rather than embarrassed.

"You don't seem to like him very much." Sydney observed.

"Not really. He's very argumentative, kind of hostile, and excruciatingly arrogant. We don't get along well at all; we're officially forbidden to sit within speaking range!"

"Hm." Sydney said. I shot her a look.

"What?"

"Do you think it's safe to leave now?"

"I dunno." I replied. "I suppose it's worth a try. How are we going to get past whoever's supposed to be watching us?"

"We hop the fence to the house behind mine. There's no one home there right now, so they won't mind. We head that direction for a while, then we go to the place."

"You seem to have this planned pretty well. What if they're watching the backyard, too?"

"I didn't think of that." Sydney muttered. "Well, if they're that thorough then we don't really stand a chance, do we?"

"Granted. Well, let's get started." I put down my textbook, and offered Sydney some M&M's.

"I thought you said to get started." She said with a sniff, though she took the M&M's.

"I'm providing energy, so we can endure this... dangerous mission." I explained, then we went to her backyard.

Her backyard reminded me of Sydney's room. It was empty of everything except grass, and even that was beginning to brown. It looked dead and desolate; I shivered slightly, and was the first to go over the fence. Sydney's house didn't seem like a very happy place; maybe there was a reason she acted different every day.

I reflected that my haste was not wise, as I landed in a heap in front of a growling Doberman.

* * *

Okay, here it is.  
UNIVERSAL CEILING TILE CONSPIRACY FACT

(Do not read this in a room where ceiling tiles are present, for your safety and for mine)  
Ceiling tiles may look innocent, but there is something deep and dark about them. As a hyperactive, easily bored student at a school where ceiling tiles are common but ignored, I have observed them frequently. Most people think that they just cover up the components of the ceiling, but this is false. There are clues; for example, you would think someone would make these things impervious to water stains. It can't be that hard; yet it seems people are afraid to tamper with their design. And how many teachers have asked daydreaming students to desist in 'counting holes in the ceiling'? Most were obviously doing no such thing; one must infer that teachers want to bring attention away from the ceiling tiles, suggesting that they are in on the plot. Also, once in gym class during a volley ball game, a girl who was fooling around and getting yelled at by the teacher was nearly hit by a falling ceiling tile. They then made us play volley ball outside for the rest of the week.

What am I suggesting? That ceiling tiles are intelligent. Not sentient; more like robots, all connected to a Mother Ceiling Tile, like ants. They brainwash intelligent students into becoming teacher's pets, who will then be forced into becoming guinea pigs for government experiments in order to get extra credit. These experiments are geared towards making more intelligent ceiling tiles, which will be used as surveillance in people's homes, and to invade foreign countries. Yes, these innocent pieces of plaster may not be so innocent after all.

* * *

Jet: That was possibly the stupidest thing you've written yet. 

Me: Shh, there's ceiling tiles in the bathroom across the hall. They'll hear you.

Jet: Unless, of course, you want to convince them you're not a threat?

Me: Aha. (shakes a finger.) You caught on to my plan.

Jet: Something like that.

Me: Anyway, please leave a review!


End file.
